Agitator with controlled vane flexure



7, 1967 c. A. COBB ETAL AGITATOR WITH CONTROLLED VANE FLEXURE Filed Oct.l, 1965 INVEN'm/ Q//ffo/u/ 50.55

United States Patent Ollce 3,337,383 Patented Mar. 7, 1967 3,307,383AGITATR WITH CONTROLLED VANE FLEXURE Clifton A. Cobb, St. Joseph, andRaymond W. Spiegel, Ann Arbor, Mich., assignors to WhirlpoolCorporation,

Benton Harbor, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Filed Oct. 1, 1965, Ser.No. 491,956 9 Claims. (Cl. 68-134) This invention relates toimprovements in clothes washing machines and more particularly relatesto a novel and improved agitator for such machines. Y

Heretofore, agitators for clothes washing machines have been providedwhich oscillate about vertical axes and have generally radial verticalvanes extending from an upright center post of the agitator. These vaneshave been suf- 'ciently llexible to ilex during oscillation of theagitator and circulation of the washing solution and the articles ofclothing and the like in the tub.

With such agitators, however, the vanes are freely extending and spacedabove the bottom of the machine tub so that some articles being washedmay have a tendency to tangle and wrap around the vanes. The tangledarticles are difllcult to remove from the washing machine and in somecases may be damaged by abrasion caused as a result of rubbing againstthe bottom of the tub or basket in which the agitator` is positioned.

A principal object of the'present invention, therefore, is to providelan improved form of agitator having all of the advantages of flexiblevanes and arranged to avoid the tangling of clothes or other Varticlesbeing washed, on the vanes.

Another object of the invention is to provide an irnproved formofagitator having freely flexing radially extending vanes in whichtangling `of the clothes on the vanes is avoided by protecting the vanesby a skirt along which the vanes flex.

Still another object of the invention is to improve upon the agitatorsheretofore used for the washing of articles of clothing and the like, byproviding the agitator with generally radially extending vvanes llexingabout their supporting center post and by protecting the bottom surfacesof the vanes to prevent the passage of clothes thereunder, in which theprotecting means limits flexing of the vanes along their lowerboundaries, but Vacco-mmodates continued flexing of the vanes in theupper regions thereof.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a novel and improvedform of agitator having an oscillatable center post and flexible vanesextending generally radially therefrom land ilexing along the topsurface of a protecting skirt, in which the skirt is so formed asl tolimit llexing of the vanes and to elevate the articles being washed asthey approach the vanes, to avoid passing of the articles beneath thevanes Vand wrapping therea-hout.

These and other objects of the invention will appear from time to timeas the following specification proceeds and with reference to theaccompanying drawings where- 1n:

FIGURE 1 is a view in side elevation of an agitator constructed inaccordance with the principles of the present invention with certainparts broken away and certain other parts shown in vertical section;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the agitator shown in FIGURE l;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary plan view of the protecting skirt for thevanes; and

FIGURE 4 is a partial fragmentary diagrammatic sectional view of theagitator taken substantially along line IV-IV of FIGURE 2 andillustrating the flexing of the vanes during a washing operation.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawing, there isshown an agitator 10 of a type adapted to wash articles of clothing andthe like, by oscillatable movement in a laundry machine tub (not shown).The agitator 10 includes a vertical hollow center post 11 having areduced diameter generally frusto-conical upper end portion 12 adaptedto be mounted on the top of a vertical shaft (not shown), extendingupwardly into the Washing machine tub and oscillatably driven by thewashing machine transmission (not shown) in a conventional manner.

The center post 11 is shown as -being generally cylindrical in form andas having an enlarged diameter lower end portion 13 having a pluralityof vanes 15 extending radially therefrom. The center post and vanes maybe made from a' suitable plastic material, resistant to the corrosiveeffects of the washing solution, although they need not necessarily bemade from a plastic material. The vanes may be recessed within theenlarged diameter portion 13 at their inner ends to extend verticallytherealong and may be bonded thereto by a suita-ble bonding material,such as an epoxy resin. The vanes, of course, may be molded integrallywith said enlarged diameter portion of said center post.

As herein shown, each vane 15 extends for the height of the enlargeddiameter portion 13 at its inner end and slopes downwardly to a reducedheight outer end portion or tip.

The vanes are sufficiently thick and the flexibility or resiliency ofthe material from which the vanes are made is such as to bias the vanesto extend radially of the center post when the agitator is not inoperation, or is operating under no load conditions. The vanes 15 havesloping bottom edges 16 conforming to and spaced closely adjacent a topsurface 17 of a skirt 19, extending beneath the vanes and shown asextending beyond the ends thereof. The skirt 19 may also be made from aplastic material, which may be like the material from which the agitatoris made, and has a down turned outer cylindrical rim 21 terminating intothe top surface 17, shown as being generally frusto-conical in form andsloping from the center post towards the rim 21 at a relatively flatangle with respect to the horizontal. The frusto-conical top surface 17of the skirt 19 terminates at its inner end into an integral formedvertically extending collar 22, shown as extending within the enlargeddiameter portion 13 of the hollow center post 11. The collar 22 may bebonded to the center post as by a suitable cement, such as an epoxyresin or other cement.

The top surface 17 of the skirt 19 is so formed as to prevent thepassage of clothes beneath the agitator vanes 15 during operation of theagitator and to limit flexible movement of the lower end portions of thevanes. Asl shown in FIGURES 2, 3 and 4, the top surface of the skirt 17has a plurality of outwardly flaring ribs, which in the presentdisclosure are `in the form of embossments 23 extending upwardly of thetop frusto-conical surface 17 of the skirt 19. The embossments 23 extendbetween the vanes 15 from the region of the center post 11 and divergefrom the vanes as they extend to the outer edge portion of the skirt.The ribs or embossments 23 are shown in FIGURES 2 and 3 as curving asthey diverge from the vanes in a uniform curve, conforming to the gpaths of flexure of the vanes during oscillatable movement of theagitator. Each embossment 23 has a stop face 25, which may be generallyvertical, to limit llexure of the vane 15 in each direction of movementof the agitator. The embossments 23 serve to maintain the articles ofclothing during a washing operation above the level of the lower edgesof the vanes, to thereby prevent the articles of clothing from passingbeneath the lower edges of the vanes and becoming wedged or tangledtherewith.

It may here be seen that during oscillation of the agitator the vanes 15may freely move back and forth along the top surface 17 of the skirt 19between the ernbossments 23 under the infiuence of the washing liquidand the articles being washed.

The embossments 23 while limiting movement of the lower edges of thevanes still accommodate the free upper edges to curl and accommodatearticles of clothing to readily pass thereover.

It may also be seen that the bottom edges of the vanes 15 aresufficiently close to the top surface 17 of the skirt 19, to restrainarticles of clothing from becoming wedged beneath the vanes and that theraised surfaces of the embossments 23 further assure that the articlesbeing washed will neither pass beneath nor wrap around the vanes, bymaintaining the articles above the bottom edges of the vanes during theentire washing operation.

While there is herein shown and described one form in which theinvention may be embodied, it will be understood modifications andvariations in the invention may be effected without departing from thespirit and scope of the novel concepts of the invention.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property orprivilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. An agitator for use in a vertical axis washing machine comprising: anupright center post, a plurality of flexible vanes connected to saidcenter post and having radially extending free ends, and a skirtcoextensively underlying and spaced closely subjacent said flexiblevanes.

2. The agitator of claim 1, wherein said skirt is provided with meansthereon for limiting circumferential flexing movement of said radiallyextending free ends of said vanes.

3. The agitator of claim 1, wherein the said skirt is provided with ribsextending along said vanes and flaring outwardly with respect to saidvanes in the paths of flexure thereof, for limiting movement of saidradially extending free ends of said vanes.

4. In an agitator particularly adapted for clothes washing machines, anoscillatably driven vertically extending center post, a plurality ofspaced fiexible agitator vanes extending vertically along said post fora portion of the height thereof, and projecting radially therefrom, saidvanes having bottom edges inclined downwardly with respect to said post,a skirt connected with the bottom of said post and having a top surfaceextending coextensively with and parallel to the bottom edges of saidvanes and closely subjacent said vanes whereby said vanes may flexlaterally along said skirt upon oscillatable movement of said agitator.

5. In an agitator particularly adapted for clothes washing machines, anoscillatably driven vertically extending center post, a plurality ofspaced flexible agitator vanes extending vertically along said post fora portion of the height thereof, and projecting radially therefrom, saidvanes having bottom edges inclined downwardly with lrespect to saidpost, a skirt connected with the bottom of said post and having a topsurface extending parallel to the bottom edges of said vanes and closelysubjacent said vanes whereby said vanes may flex laterally along saidskirt upon oscillatable movement of said agitator, said skirt beingprovided with embossments thereon for maintaining the clothes upwardlyabove the bottom edges of said vanes, and wherein said embossmentsterminate into stops limiting fiexible movement of the bottom p0rtionsof said agitator vanes.

6. In an agitator particularly adapted for clothes washing machines, anoscillatably driven vertically extending center post, a plurality ofspaced fiexible agitator vanes extending vertically along said post fora portion of the height thereof, and projecting radially therefrom, saidvanes having bottom edges inclined downwardly with respect to said post,a skirt connected with the bottom of said post and having a top surfaceextending parallel to the bottom edges of said vanes and closelysubjacent sai-d vanes whereby said vanes may fiex laterally along saidskirt yupon oscillatable movement of said agitator, said skirt havingembossments extending upwardly therefrom along opposite sides of saidvanes and diverging arcuately from said vanes toward the periphery ofsaid skirt, and wherein said embossments have stop surfaces facing saidvanes for limiting lateral flexible movement of said vanes.

7. For use with a laundry machine, an agitator construction comprising:a center post having a radially outwardly extending skirt at one end,and a plurality of lcircumferentially spaced radially outwardlyextending vanes on said center post, each vane having an edgeconformably shaped and closely spaced adjacent the coextensivelyadjoining surface portions of said skirt, said vanes being made of aflexible material, whereby said vanes can ex relative to said skirtwithout entangling materials therebetween.

8. For use with a laundry machine, an agitator construction as definedin claim 7 and further characterized by said skirt havingcircumferentially spaced abutment stops engageable with a correspondingedge of each vane to limit the degree of fiexure thereof.

9. For use with a laundry machine, an agitator construction as definedin cla-im 8 wherein said skirt has embossed thereon a raised portion foreach corresponding vane and the radial walls of said raised portionsform said abutment stops.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 18,28012/1931 Kirby 68-133 1,691,544 11/1928 Dow 68--133 2,092,954 9/1937Carter 68-134 2,161,604 6/1939 Watts 68-133 X 2,199,027 4/1940 Litle68-134 2,726,529 12/1955 Clark 68-133 3,112,632 12/1963 Walton 68-54IRVING BUNEVICH, Primary Examiner.

1. AN AGITATOR FOR USE IN A VERTICAL AXIS WASHING MACHINE COMPRISING: AN UPRIGHT CENTER POST, A PLURALITY OF FLEXIBLE VANES CONNECTED TO SAID CENTER POST AND HAVING RADIALLY EXTENDING FREE ENDS, AND A SKIRT COEXTENSIVELY 